Rah, rah (hic)
By TED ILIFF
Kansan Staff Writer
Why is the enthusiasm of parents, alums and ordinary football fans in the west stands often more boisterous than that of the student section at home football games?
To find the answer, just take a long walk around the parking lots near the stadium an hour before gametime and you may find fans partaking of artificial spirits to aid the cause.
Before games, many adult fans indulge in the age-old custom of the pre-game party. Their favorite beverage may be the source of the spirit that abounds in the west stands.
If one looks closely into the guarded car trunks, he may spot anything from a partially-covered fifth of Old Crow to an entire basket full of no-no water to suit the individual tastes of each member of the pre-game party.
Although the bottles are generally kept under wraps, clear plastic glasses filled with unmistakeable colored liquids are boldly displayed and drunk from. When the glass is empty, a short trip to the car trunk soon remedies the situation.
Everyone knows it is done. At a State House of Representatives education sub-committee hearing recently, concerning spending by state university athletic departments, Rep. Jerry Harper, (R-Wichita) brought up the subject of liquor-drinking at football games. When representatives from KU, Kansas State and Wichita State Universities admitted that such activity probably does occur, Harper asked if a law should be passed allowing such imbibing.
Charles Oldfather, KU professor of law, said such a law would be a mistake.
"Football games are a spirited event anyway, so why make them more so?" Oldfather commented, not really intending the pun.
Although openly indulging in booze on state property, fans become defensive when approached and asked about their illegal activity.
I walked up to several pre-game parties taking place in X-zone east of the stadium at the recent home game. I identified myself and asked each party why alcohol was being drunk. Some of the answers were:
"I don't see anything wrong with it." Neither do kids smoking marijuana.
"It keeps me warm." This was a curious answer because that Saturday was a perfect football day.-temperature in the 80s and not a cloud in the sky.
"None of your damn business." What could I say?
One group I approached had a liquor cabinet in the trunk. The trunk contained a quart of Old Crow. I asked one man why he was drinking liquor and he replied coyly, "Why, we're not drinking liquor."
I shot an obvious glance toward the trunk, and he hastily went to the trunk and closed the cabinet, then parried with, "Everybody does it."
Obviously, students also drink in the stands.
But the point is, alumni and parents are screaming for law and order on campuses. Most adults advocate a get-tough policy for colleges, and yet they come to the same colleges for an afternoon's entertainment and blatantly violate a state law.
Letters to the editor Call for respect
To the editor:
Near the conclusion of an excellent football game an event occurred which embarrassed me and made feel a degree of shame for this University.
A disturbance occurred in the stands which required police officers to quell it. Intermittently throughout the crowd the cry of "pig" directed toward the policemen was clearly audible. These cries were not from individuals who physically appear to exemplify that type of attitude but rather the all-American type college people—some flashing fraternity pins.
As seemingly-educated people, I wonder if we could not find a solution to this problem that is perplexing society other than standing, holding a v-sign with our fingers, and shouting "pig."
I agree wholeheartedly that the police, campus and otherwise, are not the friendly neighborhood policemen we can watch on the late late show, but calling anyone a pig does not make him feel friendly.
My five-year-old daughter has been encultured at kindergarten to believe that police are our friends. In an age when it is easy to be critical, I believe that, too.
Jack Brocksmith Quincy, Ill., senior
★★★
On dedication
To the editor:
Why did the promoters of the Moratorium pick Wednesday, Oct. 15, instead of Saturday, Oct. 17? It seems to me that one would show greater dedication to a cause by giving up a day of leisure (free day) rather than a working day.
Elmer F. Beth Professor of Journalism
The last days of freedom
By JOE NAAS Kansan Correspondent Let's all volunteer for
Let's all volunteer for the draft.
If we hesitate, it could be too late. They're trying to take it away from us, you know—or at least change it beyond recognition.
We know it's going to happen. Even our trusted friend, the President, is calling for reform. Congress probably will put up a good fight. It will use the old stall tactics to delay and dilute legislation. But it won't be long. Congress can't protect us forever. The end is near, the end of our unique life-style. We will have to make a major adaptation after all these years.
Remember high school graduation? Remember the choice we had for the immediate future? College or the army. That was it. We didn't have to worry about other alternatives. A weight was taken from our shoulders. We were freed from the responsibility of deciding our futures. And we've been enjoying this freedom ever since.
We came to college, of course, whether or not we were suited for it, even if we had originally wanted to be plumbers or carpenters. And we stuck it out, even though there were times when we wanted to try other roads to success.
And now our college stay is coming to a close. Once again the draft (if they leave it alone awhile) is going to save us. That big question mark will be staring us in the face. Should we teach or go to grad school? Enter the business world or go for a law degree?
No problem. We don't have to choose. The selective service is there to comfort us. We are freed from the burden of decision-making once again.
This freedom that we have so long enjoyed is now being threatened. We must savor it till the end.
Off the wire
By United Press International
LUTTON, England—If the choice is between drinking at the local pub or sitting at home watching television in the evening, says the Rev. David Hill, the answer is obvious: Go to the pub. "At the pub the person is at least taking an active part in community life," the vicar said in his parish magazine.
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MILWAUKEE, Wis.—Father James Groppi commented upon entering a church before his arrest on charges of contempt of the Wisconsin Legislature: "I'm going to take sanctuary. I'm going to ask God for sanctuary. After all, He got me into this mess."
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WASHINGTON—Sen. J. W. Fulbright, during an exchange on the Senate floor on the conduct of the Vietnam war with Sen. Hugh Scott, R-Pa., asserted, "It is time for Americans to leave Vietnam. I don't expect the President to liquidate the war tomorrow. All I ask is that he begin to move."
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GRIFF AND THE UNICORN
by DAVE SOKOLOFF
Griff & the Unicorn, Copyright, 1969 University Daily Kansan.